Nick Spoors

Parents of sixth formers at a Northampton school fear their children may not get the results they deserve because of problems with the ICT curriculum.

It is understood that the majority of ICT students in the lower sixth form at the Duston School received ‘U’ grades for their A Level coursework.

Parents have been told that the problem is that the class was apparently taught the incorrect curriculum, and so laboured over good quality work that has turned out to be irrelevant.

One parent said: “We aren’t sure what this means yet but the school have not been very forthcoming so far.

“The big worry for all of us is how our children will get the required grades. You need three A Levels to go to university and there is not enough time to do the work over again.

“Do they cram it all in on top of their other work or repeat the year? We’ve heard both outcomes suggested.”

Neither the exam board in question or the watchdog Ofqual offered a comment on the situation, which is undergoing an internal investigation at the school.

Normal policy in such cases is to find a solution that does not punish the student.

Northamptonshire County Council, although it is the education authority, was also unable to comment because, as an academy, the Duston School is now outside of its jurisdiction.

The all-through school, whose principal Jane Herriman left last week in the midst of exam season, would not comment directly on the situation and implied that it would not respond in full until August at the earliest.

A statement said: “The exam season is in full swing. We have 680 students sitting 70 exams.

“Our students are working very hard and the school is doing everything possible to support them.

“It would be totally inappropriate for any school to comment publicly about any exam or the performance of any group of students before results are published in August.”